Wednesday, November 21, 2007

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 21,2007) - The Appellate Panel of Section I for War Crimes of the Bosnian State Court has issued the final verdict in the case of Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic, partially upholding the defence appeal, and modifying the Trial Panel’s verdict of 16 February 2007 in the legal qualification of the acts constituting the criminal offence of Crimes against humanity, for which the Trial Panel of the Bosnian State Court had convicted Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic.

The Trial Panel’s verdict remains unchanged in the remaining parts, including the long term imprisonment of 34 years which the Trial Panel of the Bosnian State Court imposed on Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic.

The Trial Panel of the Bosnian State Court found Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic guilty of Crimes against humanity. On 14 April 1992 Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic commanded a genocidal Serbian paramilitary unit who attacked the hamlet of Brezine / Zubovici in the municipality of Foca.

Following the attack some of the Bosnian civilians were taken into captivity, interrogated and tortured by the genocidal Serbian aggressor, and then transferred to the Foca concentration camp.

Further, on 3 July 1992 Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic commanded a group of the genocidal Serbian aggressor's soldiers who attacked Bosnian civilians on the Kremnik hill. During this attack three Bosnian civilians were killed, several of them were wounded.

The captured Bosnian civilians were interrogated and brutally tortured, and Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic, together with several Serbian aggressor's soldiers under his command, murdered seven Bosnian civilians. Between mid June and mid August 1992, Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic on several occasions raped a Bosnian woman.

Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic was acquitted of participating in the rape of another Bosnian woman in the period between 7 April and May 1992,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

The time Serbian war criminal Gojko Jankovic has been held in custody from 14 March 2005 will count towards the sentence.